Sensitivity of Hot-Cathode Ionization Vacuum Gages in Several Gases
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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19720020804 2020-03-23T12:08:12+00:00Z View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NASA Technical Reports Server TECHNICAL NOTE SENSITIVITY OF HOT-CATHODE IONIZATION VACUUM GAGES IN SEVERAL GASES by Raymond Holanda Lewis Resedrch Center NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D. C. JULY 1972 TECH LIBRARY KAFB, NM -- 1llllllllll1lllll1lllllllllllllllllllllllllll0133735 - I. Report No. 1 2. Government Accession No. 1 3. Hecipient's Catalog No. NASA TN D -68 15 1 1. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date SENSITIVITY OF HOT-CATHODE IONIZATION VACUUM .. -6. Performing Organization Code GAGES IN SEVERAL GASES 7. Authorb) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Raymond Holanda 1 E-6759 .- . 9. Performing Organization Name and Address [ 10. ;or;-;n:f No. Lewis Research Center 11. Contract or Grant No. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Cleveland, Ohio I 44135 Type of Report and Period Covered - 13. 2. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Technical Note National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Agency Code Washington, D. C. 20546 .. ... -- .. - .~ 5. Supplementaiy Notes ~~ - -. .. ~ ~-.. - 6. Abstract Four hot-cathode ionization vacuum gages were calibrated in 12 gases. The relative sensi- tivities of these gages and those of other investigators were compared to several gas prop- erties. Ionization cross section was the physical property which correlated best with gage sensitivity. The effects of gage accelerating voltage and ionization-cross-section energy level were analyzed. Recommendations for predicting gage sensitivity according to gage type were made. The gage sensitivities of this experiment were also compared with the sensitivities obtained by other investigators. ~- -~ ._ .~ .. -. ~ 7. Key Words Euggested by Author(s) ) 18. Distribution Statement Ionization gage Unclassified - unlimited Ionization cross section Vacuum Vacuum measurements .. .~ - .. .. SENS ITlVlTY OF HOT-CATHODE IONIZATION VACUUM GAGES IN SEVERAL GASES by Raymond Holanda Lewis Research Center SUMMARY Four hot-cathode ionization vacuum gages were calibrated in 12 gases. The relative sensitivities of these gages and those of other investigators were compared to several gas properties. Ionization cross section was the physical property which correlated best with gage sensitivity. The effects of gage accelerating voltage and ionization-cross- section energy level were analyzed. Recommendations for predicting gage sensitivity ac - cording to gage type were made. The gage sensitivities of this experiment were also compared with the sensitivities obtained by other investigators. INTRODUCTION The hot-cathode ionization vacuum gage is the most commonly used gage for the measurement of pressures below torr. Electrons emitted from the filament of the gage collide with molecules of the gas whose pressure is to be measured, which results in ionization of the gas. The ratio of the resulting ion current to the electron current, divided by a quantity called the gage sensitivity, gives the gas pressure. This gage sen- sitivity is dependent upon the nature of the gas. The exact nature of this relation has been the subject of much theoretical and experimental investigation. The problem in determining this relation is that gage sensitivity also depends on other factors, such as the geometry of the gage and the electrical potentials. In addition, the experimental determination of the gage sensitivity introduces the uncertainty of the calibration system itself, and the operation of the experiment requires that the gages be operated in such a way that the following factors remain constant throughout: the elec- tron emission, the temperature of the gage, the structure of the gage (no sagging), the fraction of ions collected, and the electrical potentials. Some of these factors are pres- sure dependent and further complicate the experiment. Many investigators have performed experiments to determine the sensitivity of a particular gage for various gases (refs. 1to 17 and unpublished data obtained at the Lewis Research Center by W. W. Hultzman). Investigators have attempted to correlate the experimentally measured values with some property of the gas. Those properties that have been tried include ionization cross section, first ionization potential, number of molecular electrons, and molecular polarizability. An analysis of a representative and large sample of the experimental data on gage sensitivity was performed by Summers (ref. 18). He compared these data with peak total ionization cross section and molecular polarizability values. An argument is presented for justifying the selection of these properties as parameters for correlation with gage sensitivity. He concluded that, if the calibration of a particular gage type were known for one reference gas, either of these criteria could be used to predict the sensitivity of the gage for another gas with good accuracy (probable error of 10 to 15 percent); but the accuracy would not be as good as could be obtained by a direct calibration of the gages. The data used to arrive at these conclusions came from a variety of experiments, covering a span of about 50 years. In many cases, the accuracy of the original data was not stated. It was therefore possible that the probable error of 10 to 15 percent was at- tributable, at least in part, to the inaccuracies of the calibration facilities. The avail- ability of a calibration system of high accuracy (refs. 19 and 20) prompted the present series of calibrations, in order to determine whether the correlation between gage sen- sitivity and some gas property would thereby be improved. This report presents the experimental determination of gage sensitivity for four gages in 12 different gases. A secondary objective was to correlate these high-accuracy calibrations with the work of previous investigators. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The gases used in these experiments were helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), dry air, oxygen (02),carbon dioxide (C02), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (HZ),nitrogen (N2), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF&. These gases were research grade, of 99.9 percent purity. The four hot-cathode ionization gages calibrated were of the Bayard-Alpert type. The gages were identical except for the filaments. Gages W and X had thoriated-iridium filaments; gages Y and Z had tungsten filaments. Gages W and X were calibrated while simultaneously mounted on the same flange, side by side, with the filaments in the vertical position. They were then replaced by gages Y and Z, and the calibration was repeated, after appropriate reevacuation and bakeout of the system. 2 The ionization gage control units were standard commercially available units mod- ified to provide measurement and control of the emission current to *O. 3 percent of the reading throughout these experiments and measurement of the collector current to *1/2 percent of the reading. The volume-ratio calibration system is described in reference 20. It is basically a device for transferring measured quantities of test gas from a source volume into a pre- viously evacuated and sealed test chamber. The calibrating range of the system is 10- 8 to 10 torr. An error analysis (ref. 20) showed that pressures could be produced with a 1 limit of error of &l-percent between 10 torr and torr, the error increasing from 1 &l-percent at 10-62torr to & percent at torr. The calibrations were performed in 2 the pressure range from to torr. In this range the calibration system has a limit of error of about &2 percent. Each calibration run consisted of 3 to 10 points. A minimum of 5 calibration runs and 25 calibration points were obtained for each test gage in each test gas, with two ex- ceptions. (The exceptions were gages W and X in CO and 02. Here, because of fear of damage to the gage filaments, only 17 points were taken for CO and 8 for 02.) The cal- ibration runs on a given gage for each gas were spread out over a minimum of 5 days to eliminate any systematic effects that history of the gage or test chamber might have on experimental results. A mass spectrometer was used to monitor the purity of the test gas as it was in- jected into the system, to determine whether the gas handling system was operating properly. The purity of the gas injected into the system was estimated to be 98 percent or better. The use of four different gages in the experiment improved the statistical validity of the results and facilitated comparison with calibrations obtained by other investigators. Twelve different gases were used, to make the experiment as broad in scope as possible. Only one other experiment (ref. 6) used so many gases. Two commonly encountered filament materials were used to compare the effects of the active gases on different filaments. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Ca Ii br at io n of Gages The results of the calibrations are presented in table I. The sensitivity S of the gage to each gas is presented relative to nitrogen sensitivity SN Error is defined as 2' the deviation from the mean curve of sensitivity as a function of pressure for a particular gas. Limit of error is defined as the error that is not exceeded by more than 10 percent of the data points. The limit of error of the data was slightly lower for the noble gases 3 than for the active gases. The repeatability of gage W was not quite as good as that of the other three gages, but for no apparent reason. Also included in table I is the arithmetic average of the relative sensitivities of gage combinations W + X, Y + Z, and W + X + Y + Z. The only gas that presented any serious problems in the calibration procedure was oxygen. In the case of the thoriated-iridium filament (gages W and X), the oxygen had a tendency to decrease the emission. In the case of the tungsten filament (gages Y and Z), the sensitivity increased or decreased with increasing increments of pressure, depend- ing on the occasion, but became asymptotic to the same stable value at sufficiently high pressures.